‘What the hell?’: $80m NFL player snaps, attacks own teammates

An NFL captain has attacked his own teammates in scenes that have shocked America, but one detail is dividing fans.

Deebo Samuel has lost the plot and attacked teammates in an extraordinary moment during his team’s thrilling win on Monday morning.

The 49ers captain has shocked America with his ugly behaviour when he charged at field goal kicker Jake Moody and special teams long snapper Taybor Pepper.

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The heated moment came late in the fourth quarter after Moody missed his third field goal attempt of the game in a rollercoaster contest that ended with San Francisco scoring a crucial 23-20 win over Tampa Bay at Raymond Jones Stadium in Florida.

Moody missed his 44-yard kick with the team ahead 20-17 with three minutes to play and Samuel was waiting for him as the kicker made his way back towards the sideline after the play.

Seeing Moody blow it again was too much for Samuel, who gave his wonky kicker a piece of his mind before snapper Pepper appeared to interject on Moody’s behalf.

That’s when Samuel let both of them have it.

Deebo Samuel went at his teammates. Photo: Twitter, @OllieCollolly.

TV cameras captured the moment the $80m star grabbed Peppers’ neck and shoved him away.

The force of the second action was enough to snap Pepper’s head back before his follow through motion collected Moody in the helmet.

Samuel walked away before Pepper started to fire some choice words back at him.

In extraordinary scenes, it was Moody who then stepped up to win the game for the Niners with a 44-yard kick as time expired. His field goal was enough for a 23-20 victory - improving San Francisco’s record to 5-4 this season.

Samuel was left looking more than a little sheepish as teammates celebrated with Moody after the kick that iced the game.

Samuel was widely criticised by NFL commentators, however, plenty of fans said they understood why he would have lashed out at his underperforming special ops unit.

Fox NFL analyst Emmanuel Acho posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “What the hell is going on in San Francisco, we got players fighting each other? And Deebo, I get it, you’re upset, but what the hell are you doing hitting your teammate?

“There is no way to defend this behaviour. No way. You always protect your teammates publicly.

Jake Moody stopped Taybor Pepper from returning fie. Photo: Twitter.

“Deebo has played some bad games too, in bigger moments. Yes Moody has been awful, but let’s deal with that after the freaking game.

“Jake Moody sucked all day, he was coming back from injury, but he made the game winning Field Goal. You don’t have to like kickers, but they’re your freaking teammates. Respect them as such.”

NFL writer Jonny Page posted: “Deebo is such an idiot”.

One fan posted: “Deebo is a PUNK and a CRY BABY! He’s only happy when things are going his way”

Another posted: “Deebo always been a sore loser. One of the most hateable guys in the league”.

Sport podcaster John Middlekauff, however, wrote: “Don’t blame Deebo at all. These clowns on special teams are an embarrassment to the sport”.

Deebo Samuel looked sheepish at full time. Photo: Twitter.

The 28-year-old did not apologise for his behaviour when speaking to reporters after the win.

“Normally I don’t even get like that, but just frustrated in the heat of battle, a close game and I kind of got out of character a little bit,” Samuel said.

“But I’ll talk to Moody and we’ll get past it.

“I think he had a little dawg in him, a little motivation to go out there and make the field goal.

“When I was talking to him at first, I wasn’t saying anything crazy to him. I was just kind of frustrated. But then he went out there and won the game for us. He wasn’t bothered by it, so we moved past it.”

Moody admits he felt even more pressure when he stepped up for the last kick of the game a few minutes after the altercation.

“I really wanted a chance to redeem myself,” Moody said.

“I felt really confident. I saw what happened with the previous one and was able to make an adjustment and put it through.”

Pepper said in the dressing room after the game he had not spoken to patch things up with Samuel.

“It’s a high-emotion game and Jake was having a little rough patch there. I was standing up for Jake,” he said.

“He (Samuel) was telling him to lock in. We know what our job is. We got us. It’s hard being a specialist.”

Pepper said Samuel had not said anything offensive to Moody.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said no action will be taken by the team.

“Brothers scuffle a little bit,” Shanahan said.

“I didn’t see any of it so I don’t know how bad it was. It’s something I’m not too worried about. If it hasn’t been fixed already, we’ll fix it on the plane and get back to loving each other.”

Originally published as ‘What the hell?’: $80m NFL player snaps, attacks own teammates